This and that from at home.....

Haven't been doing much bird watching this week, but did take a few photos at home.

 The young birds are growing up and I seem to have lots of youngsters hanging around the feeders.

 I think these are younger Cardinals that are just getting their color and crest is growing.  Or maybe this is a molting female above...not sure.

 Don't know what the black bump is on this male's beak.  Odd.

 Chipping Sparrow with a youngster.  It was begging for food, but I was shooting through a window in the house at some distance and didn't get a good shot.

 It kept peeking in and out among the violet leaves hoping to find something to eat.

Young Cardinal and young Sparrow.....both looking like they are thinking, "Where is Mom?  Why isn't she feeding me any more????"

 The Downy's were thankful that I finally got some new suet cakes for them!

 "Yummmmmmm"

 The vines that wander all over my garden, were winding up this little bird post and I thought it looked pretty.

I also had a small shepherd's crook stuck in the ground and the vines wound their way up it :-)

 I had a beautiful Tiger Swallowtail visiting on the flowers by the mailbox and managed to get one shot before it flew away.  I need to get out looking for swallowtails, because they seem to be hanging around now.  

 Goldfinch sitting on the edge of the fountain.

 Big crowd at the suet!  Two Downys and two of the House Sparrow "brats".

I am over-run with the little House Sparrows, as usual.  They breed way too well!  Must be a flock of 30 or more hanging around my feeders and I can't afford to feed that many!  I hate to take the feeders in because I want to help the other young birds.

Odds and ends from the wetlands....

These are the final photos from my last trip to the wetlands.

 We saw several beautiful perfect Tiger Swallowtail butterflies.

 They were moving constantly and on some rather tall flowers.

I think these black swallowtails are Spicebush. 

The male Common Whitetail.  When it flies those black wing marks look like flags hanging down.  The male is always hanging around the water, but the female is always hanging around the meadow nearby.

 The Green Heron was still around, but I was in a poor place to get photos.  A little too far away and with the light all wrong.

I was trying to decide if it was the same heron.  The other one seemed more "rusty" in the neck area, but it may just be because I was closer and could see it better. This one seems more like a juvenile. 

 Male Goldfinch getting a drink.

Mrs. Goldfinch having a walk in the water. 

There was an Indigo Bunting way up in this tree just singing its heart out.  We could hear it everywhere we went that day.

 I liked these shaggy acorns.  Didn't look them up.  Lots of different oak trees at the wetlands.

And of course.....at least one turtle wearing an outfit of duckweed :-)

"And now for something completely different" at the wetlands.....

....or "large rodent in a sea of green".

 This was a new sighting for us!  I have seen muskrats swimming across the ponds or in the creek at the wetlands, but this one was sitting in the shallow duckweed and shoveling it in his mouth as fast as he could.

 We were standing on the bridge looking for birds and turtles and frogs, when Mike spotted him over at one side.  He didn't seem to even mind that much that we were watching him.

 His paws and mouth were moving constantly....

....and when he needed some more, he would reach out with both arms and rake the stuff towards him.  So funny to watch! 

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 That made me curious as to what all animals eat duckweed.  I Googled it and found that  ducks, geese, other birds (I've seen goldfinches eat it), fish, and some mammals (including pigs and elephants, but I doubt I will see any of those!)  all eat it.  The turtles and fish and frogs use it for shade, too.  Most people that have it on their ponds would like to get rid of it, which is a shame for the wildlife.  The creek here at the wetlands is always covered with it all summer, but as fall comes along it slowly disappears.  There are usually quite a few ducks and geese on the creek during the fall.

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Becky, at Woodnook Creations blog, tells me that she used to grow duckweed for people with tropical fish.  It floats on top of the water and protects the babies from the bigger fish.  Interesting!

Walking at the wetlands Part 2......

 There is so much life at the wetlands, that it is hard to fit it all into a post or even two.  I never know what I will see, but I know I will see "something" of interest.

This Sulphur butterfly looked like a yellow flower inside of an orange flower :-

 The creek is covered in duckweed right now and there were teeny tiny frogs sitting on the top or hopping around.  They may look big in these photos, but they are actually about the size of my thumbnail or smaller!

 I thought some of the colors looked different, but have no idea if they are all the same kinds or not.

 We saw at least 8 the first day and I went back yesterday and saw a bunch more.

 This was a larger frog/toad? at the edge of the creek.

There are lots of these pink hibiscus flowers around the water right now.  This one had two little "visitors" inside of it. The big bee did not like that other green one and immediately backed out. 

 They are really lovely to look at.

 Purple flowers in the meadow attract lots of insects and butterflies

Queen Anne's Lace......a rather small one. 

 I only saw one or two of these tall red flowers.......Cardinal Flower....Lobelia

 A female Common Whitetail dragonfly.  I saw lots of the males, which look quite a bit different, but never got a good shot of one.  The male is pale blue and looks like it has "flags" on its wings when it flies.

 We could see some ducks way down the creek in an area I couldn't get very near.  I finally got a half way decent shot of them yesterday that I could crop, and have decided they are immature Wood Ducks!  Wish I could get closer to them.  There were 6-7 of them.  

 An Indigo Bunting way up in the same tree where the heron was the day before.

I think this is a Spicebush Swallowtail. 

 A Silver-Spotted Skipper with its "white elephant" mark.

 Some of the yellow flowers.

Sumac......they look velvety soft in this photo.

 Mike took this Spicebush photo......lift off!  These butterflies move constantly, making it hard to get their photo.

 And what would a wetland walk be without turtles!  Lots and lots of turtles on every submerged log.

 Mike took this one with its leg hanging down.....very lazy looking :-)

This is my "count the turtles" shot for the day.

 (you may have to click to make it larger to count them)

 The duckweed looked lime green around these three.

 Climbing out

 Heads together....gossiping :-)

 A green covered group.  At times they just look like moss covered rocks in the water.

 The thistles are nice this time of year with lots of seeds for the Goldfinches.

This turtle must have been on the bank for quite awhile.......all dried up and muddy.  It was in the same place when I went back yesterday.

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I never tire of coming to the wetlands.  So much to see of both flora and fauna.....and turtles :-)